Detailed post on making introductions featuring our very own Adam Rifkin.

No Adam Rifkins were interviewed in the making of this article.

That said, I agree it's an excellent article for distilling the Adam Grant philosophy:

AoM has previously tackled the etiquette of making in-person introductions. That post demonstrated how to show respect and deference when introducing business associates of various ranks face-to-face.

In this post, I’m going to share how you can use virtual introductions as a tool for helping others and for advancing your career or business. As you’ll see, principles of gentlemanly etiquette still apply, even if you’re not in the same room together.

In the recent book Give and Take, Wharton professor Adam Grant profiles Adam Rifkin, a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur who has made three introductions a day for nearly a decade. Rifkin’s efforts have led to a dozen business partnerships, hundreds of jobs, and the creation of numerous companies.

Just as importantly, Rifkin’s habit of making introductions has contributed to his own personal success. Even though he is inherently shy, Rifkin is phenomenally well-connected, which ledFortune to crown him as the best networker of 2011. Thanks in part to that connectedness, his startups, including his most recent company PandaWhale, have received high-profile venture capital funding and been profiled by TechCrunch.

Give and Take’s central premise, supported by decades of academic and social research, is that “givers” — people who are inclined to give to others — are more likely to be successful in business and in life than “takers” — those whose first instinct is to think of their own self-interest. Grant argues that introductions are one of the most powerful tools givers can use to strengthen their weak ties within their network, a concept Malcolm Gladwell introduced to a wide audience inThe Tipping Point.

Gladwell argued that when it comes to finding out new information, weak ties — people that we know peripherally — are more important than strong ties, because strong ties are the people you already know well and talk to frequently. A strong tie probably knows a lot of the same people and information you already know. Because of this, you tend to learn more from your weak ties than you do from your strong ties.

And yet few people make introductions regularly, perhaps out of a mistaken belief in limited returns, or due to confusion about how to go about doing introductions effectively.

Let’s nip that in the bud, shall we? In a moment, I’m going to break down five simple steps you can use as a framework for making introductions.

Read more: 

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/04/02/theres-someone-id-like-you-to-meet-how-to-use-introductions-to-strengthen-weak-ties-and-advance-your-career/